After Iceland and Norway, Finland is on the verge of becoming the third Nordic nation to introduce a 25% filming tax rebate. The proposed tax incentive on production costs incurred locally on films (fiction, documentary and animation) as well as TV series is still to be approved by the Finnish Parliament, as part of the next state budget, but it is expected to get the go ahead and to be implemented early 2017. 

Budgetary allocations for the 25% tax incentive will be divided between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment together with the Ministry of Education and Culture, and will be administered by ‘Tekes’, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation. 

"The adoption of the incentive makes Finland a highly competitive candidate for shooting major international productions" said Mr. Olli Rehn, Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs.

Johanna Karppinen, CEO of Audiovisual Finland that spearheaded the lobbying efforts for the rebate added: "Clearly this is a very satisfying moment to see the that the government looks at film and television when searching for new sources of international monetary flow and growth, thus recognising its potential.'

Over the last six months competition has increased in the Nordic region to lure mainstream foreign productions on domestic soil. In January 2016 Norway introduced its 25% filming rebate (capped at €4.7 million for the first year) and in June, Iceland’s Parliament agreed to increase the existing tax rebate from 20% to 25%. The new rate will be applied early 2017.